Peking University, June 9, 2021: Professor Yu Kongjian from Peking University College of Architecture and Landscape received John Cobb Common Good Award. The award is the highest of its kind in the field of ecological philosophy and ecological civilization.

The John Cobb Common Good Award is named after Dr. John Cobb, a world-famous postmodern philosopher, ecological economist, and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In the West, he has come to be known as the “Father of Green GDP”. The award aims to reward ecological environmentalists who have made outstanding contributions to the promotion of ecological civilizations and the enhancement of the common well-being of humanity and nature around the world. Every year, the prize is awarded at the International Forum on Ecological Civilization. 

During the award ceremony, Dr. John Cobb, founding president of the Institute for Postmodern Development of China, commented on Yu’s work, “Chinese scholar Yu Kongjian’s practice of learning from nature is extremely wise. The real significance he gave to the eco-city and eco-landscape movement was making it an important part of the construction of an ecological civilization. It’s our honor to present him with the John Cobb Common Good Award.”

Philip Clayton, president of the Institute for Postmodern Development of China, said in his speech, “Yu Kongjian’s remarkable contribution to human hopes for an ecological civilization [is the result of] combining traditional Chinese wisdom with modern science and technology…” 



After being presented with the award, Professor Yu delivered a speech on the topic of “Saving the Earth: The Art of Survival”, sharing Chinese concepts and designs for an ecological civilization with more than 300 ecological civilization researchers from all over the world. 

Professor Yu earned his doctoral degree in design from Harvard University in 1995. After returning to China in 1997, he founded the College of Architecture and Landscape at Peking University. His team has designed a series of replicable feats of engineering, which have been applied to the design in more than 1000 urban ecological restoration projects in at least 200 cities around the world.

Written by: Cherlin Xu
Edited by: Jacob Tomkins
Source: PKU News (Chinese)